Â Stream Corridor in Lyme

On June 22nd UVLT conserved a 31.5 acre parcel of farmland in Lyme that abuts several other conserved properties and adding approximately a half mile to the a corridor of protected land along Clay Brook, as it flows from Post Pond toward the Connecticut River.

Bob Wetzel donated a conservation easement on the land which consists of 16 acres of farmland with 4 acres of prime soils, 1.8 acres of soils of statewide importance, and 17 acres of local importance, and 12 acres of forest land as well as nearly 5 acres of wetland.

The property is activelyÂ managed for hay and Christmas tree production byÂ area farmers. The conservation easement provides that the stream frontage will be buffered with a 100 ft riparian area to keep the banks from eroding, provide wildlife habitat, particularly for birds, and to protect water quality.

Historic images of the property suggest that most of the property, outside of the scrub-shrub areas adjacent to the brook, were once cleared for agriculture.

Building Forest Blocks in Tunbridge

John Echeverria and Carin Pratt have purchased and conserved about 50 acres of forestland along the border between Tunbridge and Strafford, Vermont. The property is nestled between the 274-acre Dodge Farm, conserved by John and Carin last year and Hidden Valley Orchard, owned by Herbert and Mel Goertz and conserved in 2016. All three properties are located within a 5,400 acre highly ranked forested habitat block as identified by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

The newly conserved property, known as “Briere Woods” has frontage along Strafford Road and is nearby to Kibling Hill Wildlife Management Area. The project was part of a larger neighborhood conservation effort and creates a block of over 400 acres of UVLT conserved land in the area.